Levelizer



Nov. 15, 1 938.- i Q B. G. HARLEY 2,136,614

LEVEL'IZER Filed March 10. 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR. ZI/PT/PUA6". #471?! I I 3r M W ATTORNEY.

Nov. 15, 1938. B. G. HARLEY 2,136,614

' LEVELIZER v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10, 1938' hillhh Lii'diilPatented Nov. 15, 1938 LEVELIZER Bertron G. Harley, Saco, Maine,assignor to St. Paul Hydraulic Hoist Company, Minneapolis, Minn., acorporation of Minnesota Application March 10, 1938, Serial No. 195,029

13 Claims.

This invention relates to road maintenance or .grading machinessometimes referred to as highway patrols.

. More particularly the invention resides in a 6 novel construction andarrangement'of levelizer or chatter eliminator for use in cooperationwith.

manifest, however, that the invention is equally applicable to any roaddressing implement supported by a tractor, trailer or any other suitabletype of road vehicle, whether or not theimplement is adjustable andregardless of the operating means if it be adjustable.

In road maintenance equipment it is common for a scraper to beadjustably supported beneath a truck chassis. Generally the scraper maybe withheld from operating position by appropriate means, preferablyhydraulically operated, and releasable or operable by such means toenable the scraper to assume a position, at varying elevations, wherebyits blade may scrape the surface of a road so as to smooth out the sameand eliminate or lessen corduroy conditions and to cause the surface ofthe road to assume a generally smooth aspect; Naturally-because ofcorduroy or corrugated conditions on the road surface, rocks, holes andother irregularities in the road surface, there is considerable tendencyfor the scraper blade to receive strong shocks and vibra- 'tions and tohave irregular cutting effect upon the surface of the road. Furthermore,the chattering effect caused by irregular surface conditions i isobjectionable in itself and by transmission through the scraper, mayhave a deleterious effect upon the other parts of the mechanismTherefore, it is desirable to equip the scraper. generally adjacent eachend thereof, with a levelizing device, gauge shoe or other chattereliminating device which will ride the surface of the 50 road behind thescraper and hold the same in a. rigid and virtually chatterless mannersothat its cutting edge will be maintained always substantially at aregular cutting depth, and which will decrease to a marked degree thetendency of the 55 scraper to vibrate and chatter.

It is a primary object of the present invention Y to provide such agauge shoe or levelizing device that is strong, rigid, highly effectiveand simple in construction and operation.

' It is a further object of the invention to provide a levelizerattachable to a road scraper or the like and which is readily adjustableboth vertically and horizontally.

It is another object of the invention to provide v a levelizer forscrapers or the like which is provided with means, preferably a spring,for receiving and absorbing road shocks.

A stillfurther object of the invention is toprovide a chatter eliminatorwherein there is means to assure that the road contacting element willbe able always to assume a position substantially parallel with the roadsurface.

Withthese' and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction andnovel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forthin the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changesin the form, proportion and minor details of construction, within thescope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from thespiritof the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a truck having a road scraper implementsuspended therebeneath and showing an embodiment of the levelizer orchatter eliminator of the .present invention attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the levelizer of the presentinvention, in one embodiment; showing the same attached to a scraper;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken sub- 40 stantially along thelines 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown in conventional style, agasoline-propelled truck 5 having the usuaifront steering wheels 6 andrear driving wheels 1. On either side of the truck chassis adjacentthe-frontpart thereof are depending brackets 8 to which are pivoted sidemembers or bars 9 constituting a pivoted sub-frame the rear portion ofwhich may be raised or lowered with respect to the truck chassis bysuitable actuating mechanism not shown. Adjacent the rear end of thesub-frame a road scraper I0 is attached to each of the side members 9 bymeans of the trunnion connection II. The scraper generally comprises amould board [2 and a scraping blade 3 attached to the lower edge of themould board by means of nut and bolt connections I4, the scraping bladel3 generally being of relatively hard steel and having a sharpened loweredge which is adapted to contact the road surface and cut awayirregularities.

An important point about a road scraping mechanism is for the blade toshape the irregularities of the road instead of allowing irregularitiesto force it up and down following the path of least resistance. In itspreferred environment the scraper 0 is forced downwardly and held incontact with the road surface by means of a hydraulic cylinder ofconventional type. The levelizer or gauge shoe of the present invention,shown generally at IS in Fig. l, is attached to the scraper, generallyone levelizing device at either end thereof, and, in addition tominimizing chatter or teetering of the scraper, exerts pressure upwardlyagainst the down pressure of the hydraulic cylinder to hold the blade inrequired cutting position without rigidity, yet with sufiicient strengthto insure proper cutting action.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there is shown, in enlarged detail, the presentpreferred embodiment of the invention. A yoke shaped bracket I6 isrigidly and securely attached to the mould board l2 by means of bolts orrivets l1 passing through openings in outstanding ears H! which form apart of the bracket. The yoke I6 is somewhat irregular in shape andpreferably is formed of two individual and separate legs |8a and ill,the two being joined by a web or plate 20 extending across and closingthe top of the bracket.

The leg |8a has an inwardly projecting portion 2| which is grooved orcut away to form a substantially V-shaped or beveled groove 22.Theopposite leg I9 also has a corresponding inwardly projecting portion23 but which is approximately half the thickness of the inwardlyprojecting portion 2| and the outer face of the portion 23 has a planesurface lying in approximately the same vertical plane with one face 24of the groove 22. A strip or bar 25 is adapted to be secured to theouter face of the inwardly projecting portion 23 by means of bolts 26and the inner exposed face of this strip is beveled to form with theportion 23, a V-shaped groove 21 substantially corresponding to thegroove 22, all for the purpose to be presently described.

A slide block 28 having its outer edges beveled,

as at 29 to approximately correspond with and fit snugly within therespective grooves 22 and 2'|, is arranged within these grooves so as tobe slidable in a vertical direction upwardly and downwardly. Inassembling the mechanism one beveled edge 29 is inserted within thegroove 22 and the beveled strip 25 is then applied and secured in placeby the bolts 26. This arrangement, manifestly, permits ready assemblyand disassembly of the mechanism. If desired, of course, each leg of thebracket may be identical and each provided with a groove 22 and thestrip 25 dispensed with. This construction, however, would require moreaccurate construction and machining of the several contacting surfaces.

In order to provide for readily moving the slide block 28 upwardly'anddownwardly within the opposing grooves, there is provided a rotatableexternally screw threaded shaft 30 which projects through an opening inthe web 20 and is rotatable therein by means of the hand wheel 3| keyedto the upper end of the shaft, the shaft being held against verticaldisplacement in either direction by means of collars 32 and 33surroundgrooves 22 and 21.

ing the shaft adjacent the upper and lower faces respectively of the web20. The inner face of the slide block 28 is provided with an outstandinglug 34 pierced in a vertical direction by an opening which is internallyscrew-threaded to cooperate with the externally screw-threaded shaft 30.As will be readily seen in the drawings, shaft 30, by means of thescrewv threaded cooperation, projects through the opening in the lug 34and rotation of the shaft 30 by means of hand wheel 3| in one directionor the other, will cause the lug 34 to ride upwardly or downwardly uponthe screw-threaded shaft and thus cause the slide block 28 to be raisedor lowered within the The lug 34 may be integral with the slide block 28or it may be attached thereto for ready removal by means of bolt 35.

The strip 25, when bolted firmly in place serves to lock the block 28against vertical displacement. To raise or lower the block the bolts 26are loosened whereupon the screw may be actuated to adjust the blockvertically and the bolts thereafter tightened again. Any other suitablemethod of securing the block 28 against vertical displacement may beused, however, such as appropriate means for locking the screw 30against rotation.

Projecting from the rear face of the slide block 28 and preferablyintegral therewith, are two or more lugs or ears 36 which are invertical alignment and pierced by substantially vertical concentricopenings. Cooperating with the members 36 are vertically aligned ears 31which project forwardly from and form' a part of the road contact shoesupporting structure indicated generally by the numeral 38. The ears 3'!also are pierced by substantially concentric openings and a king bolt 39passes through the openings in both sets of vertically aligned earsbeing held therein against vertical displacement either by means of acotter pin through the lower end of the king bolt or by the restrainingelement indicated at 40. This construction, it will be seen, permitspivoting or swiveling of the shoe supporting structure 38 about avertical axis so that the contact shoe may be allowed to assume anydesired angle with respect to the mold board |2.

The shoe supporting structure consists essentially of two parts. Thereis a rugged and rigid framework supported from the bracket It in themanner just described, and spring means is interposed between theframework and the road contact shoe for imparting a certain amount ofresilience to the same and for absorbing shocks. The rigid supportingframework comprises a vertical upstanding member or web 4| with whichthe ears 31 preferably are integral and from which they extend in orderto be mounted on the king bolt as hereinbefore described. Extendingrearwardly from the web 4|, preferably at right angles thereto andsomewhat above its lower extremity is a substantially horizontal andrigid plate member 42. The plate 42 may be integral with the web 4|welded thereto or secured to the web in any desired manner and, in orderto give sufficient strength and rigidity to the framework, there isprovided a central upstanding flange 43 which is of a shape resembling aright angle triangle. It is in rigid connection with the web 4| alongthe upstanding leg of the right angle and with the plate 42 along thehorizontal leg of the right angle. The whole framework including' theweb 4|, horizontal plate 42 and central flange 43 may be cast in oneintegral mass or all of these elements may be separate the angle formedby the underside of the plate 42 and the rear wall of the web M is aleaf spring assembly 45 composed of the usual individual leaves 45, eachof a different length according to conventional construction. The freeend of the lowermost of the leaves 46 is somewhat longer in proportionthan the other leaves and is curled 'or rolled upon itself to form aneye or tubelike collar to serve as' a tubular bearing for pivotallysupporting the road contacting element or shoe presently to bedescribed. f

The road, contacting shoe is provided by a runner 41, preferably ofhardened steel to resist wear and has its toe and heel portions, 48 and49 respectively, turned upward so as to enable the shoe to glidesmoothly over the surface without catching into obstructions. Centrallyof the runner 41 there is an attaching bracket provided with upstandingwalls 5| and 52. In each of these oppositely disposed walls there is anopening, the respective openings being in alignment and substantiallyconcentric and adapted to receive a pivot pin 53. As will be readilyunderstood, the pivot pin 53 extends through the aligned openings in thewalls 5| and 52 and through the tubelike bearing provided by the curledend of the lower spring leaf 46, the pivot pin beingprovided with anenlarged head 54 and held against displacement by means of cotter pin 55or by other suitable restraining means. Washers 56 may be interposedbetween the respective ends of the curled portion of the lower springleaf and the inner surfaces .of the upstanding walls 5! and 52. Thus, itwill be seen that the contact shoe is attached to the spring assembly 45in a simple and readily detachable manner and that it may easily pivotor rock about the pivot pin 53 so as to ride smoothly over road surfaceirregularitiesand so that it may always assume a position parallel withthe road surface regardless of the angle of inclination of the mouldboard l2.

In order to restrain somewhat the pivotal movement of the contact shoe,to adjust it at any desired angular relationship, with respect to thehorizontal and to allow a limited amount of free pivotal movement, thereis provided a rod 51 which slides vertically through an opening 58 inthe plate 42. The rod 51 is pivoted, in the illustrated instance, to theforward part of the:

upstanding wall 5|, extends upwardly therefrom through the opening 58and'is encircled above the plate 42 by the helical spring 59. The upperpart of the rod 51, above the plate 42 is externally screw-threaded toreceive the lock nuts 60 which may be used to adjust the angle of therunner 41 and hold the same at any desired angle with respect tothdhorizontal, while at the same time permitting limited pivotal.movement. It will be seen that advancement of the lock nuts 50 in adownward direction will tend to raise the rod 51 and the contact shoeagainst the pressure of spring 59, whereas movement of the lock nutstoward the uppei end ofthe rod 51 will tend to lower the rod and theforward portion of the contact shoe correspondingly. This pivotalinoveme'nt restraining means is of particular im- -'5 portance when theentire mechanism is raised above the surface of the road in order thatthe vehicle may travel in a normal manner without scraping theroadsurface. In the jtaised position, of course, the runner 41 normatlywould tend to hang downward and drag along or catch in the road surface.This, of course, will not occur with the rod 41 in proper adjustmentsince the runner may'then be maintained in a substantially horizontalposition. In order to prevent free swiveling of the contact shoe andsupporting structure about the king bolt 39 there is provided a tie rod6| having one? end bent substantially at a right angle so that it may beinserted in any of a number 05 openings 62 in the plate 42. The otherend of,'th'e tie rod 6| also may be bent at a right angle and beinserted in an eye, hook or other receptacle on the back of the mouldboard l2 in g. readily understood manner. The tie rod 6| in 3 is shownas extending between the plate 42 and a point on the mould board towardthe center thereof. Obviously, however, the tie. rbd may extend from apoint adjacent the opposite edge of the plate 42 to a point adjacent themiter end of the mould board or duplicate tie rods; 'may be used at eachside of the plate 42. By? providing a number of aligned perforations 62{in the plate 42, or by providing a plurality of aligned hooks or eyeson the back of the mould board i2, the contact shoe and supportingstructure may be adjusted and firmly held at any desired angle withrelation to the bracket l6 and the lmould board 02.

From the above description it will readily be seen that there isprovided a levelizer, gauge shoe or chatter eliminator for scrapers orother road dressing implements which is strong and durable, simplyconstructed and capable of a variety of necessary and desirableadjustments. In most instances the mould board itself is adjustable atvarying angular relationships with respect to the road surface so thatthe blade l3 may secure a good cutting action or may be merely more orless dragged over the surface. According to the angular adjustment ofthe mould board, the shoe and the supporting structure may be raised orlowered by the screw 30 and slide block 28 so that it can contact withthe road surface in a firm and positive rnanner. In conjunction withthis rectilinear vertical adjustment, the shoe may pivot about the pin53 so as to always assume a position parallel with the road surface.Furthermore, it is obvious that the rectilinear vertical adjustment ofthe shoe and supporting structure by means of the slide block and screwelements, the cut of the blade 13 may be gauged so as to cause it toeffect a deeper shallow cut as the case may be. It will be seen that theshoe, through its supporting structure, will exert pressure up againstthe normal downward pressure exerted by the hydraulic cylinder if. suchbe used for actuating the scraping implement and that the combination ofthese opposing forces will firmly hold the blade in the required cuttingposition without rigidity and yet with sufficient strength to insureproper action. These opposing forces also will reduce to a minimum anytendency of the scraper to chatter or teeter and the spring assembly 45further acts to absorb and eliminate shocks so that they are nottransmitted from the contact shoe to the scraping implement.

The fact that the vertical adjustment of the shoe supporting structureis accomplished in a I ment. The best embodiment of the invention nowknown has been illustrated and described but it is to be understood thatthe invention in its broadest aspect is not to be limited to thisspecific construction and may-embrace various other structures whereinthere is a contact shoe supporting element vertically adjustable in alinear manner, pivotal about a vertical pivot point and carrying contactshoe pivotal about a horizontal pivot point.

I claim:

1. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said block, a contact shoe supporting structurepivoted to said block, and a road contact shoe carried by saidsupporting structure.

2. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing'implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said block, a contact shoe supporting structurepivoted to said block, spring means carried by said shoe supportingstructure, and a road contact shoe pivoted to said spring means.

3. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, a lug projecting from saidblock and pierced with an internally screw-threaded opening, anexternally screw-threaded shaft rotatably mounted in said bracket andextending through the opening in said lug and cooperating therewith forimparting vertical sliding movement to said block, a contact shoesupporting structure pivoted to said block, spring means carried by saidshoe supporting structure, and a road contact shoe pivoted to saidspring means.

4. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said block, a contact shoe supporting structurepivoted to said block, spring means carried by said shoe supportingstructure, a road contact shoe pivoted to said spring means, and meansfor limiting the pivotal movement of said shoe.

5. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said block, a contact shoe supporting structurepivoted to said block, spring means carried by said shoe supportingstructure, a road contact shoe pivoted to said spring means, and meansfor adjusting said shoe about its pivot point and holding it in adjustedpostion while allowing a limited amount of pivotal movement.

6. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said blockya contact shoe supporting structurepivoted to said block, a leaf spring carried by said shoe supportingstructure and having a free rearwardly projecting end, and a roadcontact shoe pivoted tonne oi the leaves of said spring at its free end.

7. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidably mounted insaid bracket for vertical movement therein, means for imparting verticalsliding movement to said block, a pair of rearwardly extendingvertically pierced ears on said block, a road contact shoe supportingstructure, a pair of forwardly extending vertically pierced ears on saidstructure, a king bolt extending through the openings in each pair ofears, and a road contacting shoe carried by said supporting structure.

8. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, said bracket having twosides provided with inwardly projecting oppositely disposed portions,each of said portions being provided with a groove, a block having itsopposite edges received within the respective grooves and verticallyslidable therein, means for imparting vertical sliding movement to saidblock, a contact shoe supporting structure pivoted to said block, and aroad contact shoe carried by said supporting structure.

9. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing implement, said bracket having twosides, one side having an. inwardly projecting portion provided with asubstantially V-shaped groove,

the other side having an oppositely disposed inwardly projecting portionof a lesser width than said first mentioned inwardly projecting portion,a block having its opposite edges beveled with one of said edgesreceived within said groove, a strip having a beveled edge substantiallycorresponding to that of the beveled edge of the block bolted to theouter face of the inwardly projecting portion of lesser width andholding the block in slidable engagement with the inwardly projectingportions of the sides of said bracket and adapted to hold said blockagainst vertical displacement when bolted firmly, means for impartingvertical sliding movement to said block, a contact shoe supportingstructure pivoted to said block, and a road contact shoe carried by saidsupporting structure.

10. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracket adaptedto be attached to a road dressing'implement, a road contact shoesupporting structure ,associated with said bracket in a pivotal manner,said supporting structure including a vertical web member, a horizontalplate, and a vertical central flange joining the web and plate members,a leaf spring bolted to the plate member, and a road contact shoepivoted to said spring.

11. A levelizer for road dressing machines com-'-' prising a bracketadapted to be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidablymounted in said bracket for vertical movement therein, means forimparting vertical slidable movement to said block, a contact shoesupporting structure pivoted to said block, means to restrain pivotalmovement or said supporting structure, and, a road contact shoe carriedby said supporting structure.

I 12. A levelizer for road dressing machines comprising a bracketadapted to be attached to a road dressing implement, a block slidablymounted in said bracket for vertical movement therein, means forimparting vertical slidable movement to said block, means operable forlocking said block against vertical movement, a contact shoe supportingstructure pivoted to said block, and a elae'em 5 leaves of said springbeing curled upon itself to form a tubular bearing member, a, road.contact shoe, on attaching bracket on the upper face of said shoe andhaving aligned oppositely disposed openings, and a, pivot pin extendingthrough said openings and through said tubular bearing memher forpivotally supporting the contact shoe from said spring.

BERTRON G. HARLEY.

